Farm-gate.



N. J. HNWALL.

FARM GATE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 18,19141 Patented June 30, 1911 Ici-T..

lul"

SMM/diez "MJT: rmam. Y"

NELSON J. FINWALL, OF EWING, NEBRASKA.

FARM-GATE.

nieuwe.

Application led February 18, 19114.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, NELSON J. FINWALL, citizenof the United States, residing at Ewing, in the county of Holt and Stateof Nebraska, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inFarin-Gates, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates toD certain new and useful improvementsiny farm gates, and has for its primary object to provide a gate whichembodies novel features of construction whereby it can be readily openedand closed by a person riding upon a vehicle or mounted upon a horse,without the necessity of dismounting.

A further object of the invention is to provide a gate of this characterwhich is comparatively simple and inexpensive in its construction,which' swings in a vertical plane and occupies but a small amount ofspace, which can be easily and quickly swung into either an open or aclosed position, and which is positive and reliable in its operation.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in certainnovel combinations and arrangements of the parts as will y more fullyappear as the description proceeds, the novel features thereof beingpointed out in the appended claims.

F or a full understanding of the invention, reference is to be had tothe following description and accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 isa side elevation of a farm gate constructed in accordance with theinven-` tion, the gate beine' shown by full lines in a closed positionand by dotted lines in an open position, and portions being broken away.Fig. 2 is a top plan view of a gate constructed in accordance with theinvention, portions of the operating levers being broken away. Fig. 3 isa transverse vertical sectional view through the gate on the line 3 3 ofFig. 1, portions being broken away and shown in section. Fig. 4 is adetail View of the pivoted end of the gate, showing the manner ofconnecting the operating cable thereto. F ig. 5 is an end View of thegate, the upper ends of the standardsbeing broken away. Fig. 6 is adetail view of the pivot end of the gate, showing the position of theoperating cables when the gate is swung up-` wardly into an openposition. Fig. 7 is a detail view showing a slight modification inSpecification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 30, 1914.

Serial No. 819,420.

to in the following description and indicated in all the views of thedrawing by the saine y reference characters.

Specically describing the present embodiment of the invention, thenumeral 1 designates the body portion of the gate which may be built upfrom a number of bars in the conventional manner. Thepivot end of thegate is formed with a solid plate 2 which provides a vertical turntable. I A hub 3 is provided at substantially the central portion of theplate or turn-table 2, the edge 2a of the plate 2 at the eXtreme end ofthe gate being substantially semi-circular and having the hub 3 as itscenter of curvature. rlhe plate or vertical turntable 2 is receivedloosely between the lower ends of a pair of spaced vertical standards 4,the said standards being connected by a transverse bolt 5 which passesthrough the hub 3 and upon which the plate 2 is mounted so as to turn ina vertical plane.

` An operating lever 6 is pivotally mounted upon the upper end of eachof the standards 4, the inner ends of the operating levers having ahinged connection 7 so that the two levers will swing in unison, whilethe outer ends of the operating levers are provided with pendent cablesor chains 8 providing handles which can be grasped to open or close thegate, as may be desired. The pivotal connection between the operatinglevers and the standards 4 is necessarily loose and for this purposeslots 9 are provided in the operating levers through which the pivotpins 10 of the standards 4 pass. A spring 30 is connected to lthe innerend of one of the operating levers 6 and normally tends to pulldownwardly upon the inner end of the lever to hold the said leversnormally in operative position. As soon as the operating levers 6 arereleased, after manipulating` the same to open or close the gate, thespring 30 serves to return them to normal position.

An operating cable 11 has the upper end thereof connected to the inner1ends of the two operating levers (3, the lower end of the operatingcable being connected to a pair of branch cables 12 and 13, while theintermediate portion of the cable passes loosely through suitable guides14 upon one of the standards 4. The two branch cables 12 and fin 13 areconnected to the pi-vot plate or turntable 2 of the gate at the points15 and 16 respectively, the said points being locatedA upon imaginarylines radiating from the center of the hub 3 and subtending an angle ofsubstantially 90o. When the gate is in a l closed position, the point 15is located directly over the pivot rod 5 and the point 16 thereof remotefrom the gate opening.

Assuming the'gate 1 to be in a closed position, a downward pull upon oneof the han.-

dles 8 will swing the outer ends o-f the oper- 1 ating levers G down andmove the inner ends thereof up, thereby imparting an up- Vee ,ward pullto. the operating cable 11. lVith the two branch cables 12 and 13 in theposition indicated by Fig. 4f, it will be obvious that the entire pullupon the operating cable 11 will be imparted through the branch cable 13to the point 16 upon the pivot plate 2 so as to sufing thegate upwardly.The handle 3 will be released before the branch cable 12 also becomestaut, and the momentum of the gate will then swing the same upwardlyinto a completely open position. Then the `gate is open, the relation ofthe branch cables Y 12and 13 to the main cable 11 is reversed,

so that when one of the operating levers 6 is again pulled downwardly,the tension of the cable 11 is imparted through the branch cable 12 tothe point 15. r1`his starts the gate in its downward swinging movementand the operating lever G is released before the branch cable 13 becomestaut, the mo-l mentum of the gate being then su'Hicient to complete theclosing movement thereof. In ordei` to facilitate the Vopening andclosing of the gate a series of weights 17, 13 and 19 are appliedthereto in such a manner as to balance the same as nearly as possible.Upon the initial upward swinging movement of the gate the weight 18 isshifted from one side of the pivot bolt 5 to the opposite side thereofso as to assist in opening the gate, while upon the initial closingmovement of the gate the weight 19 is shifted from one side of the pivotbolt 5 to the opposite side thereof so as to assist in closing the gate.

Latch means is also provided for locking the gato positively in an openand closed position so as to prevent accidental opening and closing ofthe gate, the said latch means being automatically released by the gateoperating mechanism preparatory to swinging the gate into either an openor a closed position. rThe latch lever 20 is shown as horizontallydisposed and passing through one of the standards 4, the middle portionof the lever being pivotally mounted upon the standard at 21. The noseof the latch lever is adapted to engage either one of a pair of notchedkeepers 22 'and 22a applied to the pivot plate 2 of the gate. The rearendof vthe latch lever` 20 is engaged by a spring 23 which normallytends to hold the latch in an operative position and the sides of thenotched keepers 22 and 22 are inclined or beveled so as to engage thenose of the latch lever and lift the same against the action of thespring 23 preparatory to letting it drop into the notch. The inner endof the latch lever 20 has a yielding or'spring connection, as indicatedat 24 with the mainoperating cable 11. The parts are so connected to thecable 11 relatively to each other that the ini-H tial upward movement ofthe said cable operates to lift the noseof the latch lever 20 from thekeeper 22 or 22 so as to unlock the gate preparatory to swinging thesame intov either an open or a closed position.` When the gate vreachesits final position, either open or closed, the nose of the latch lever20 engages the inclined sides of the respective keeper and is liftedthereby against the action of the spring 23 preparal.

tory to dropping into the notch ofthe keeper `and locking the gateagainst further swinging` movement in either direction. l

When in a closed"` position the outer or free end of the gate 1 may bereceived between a pair of spaced posts so as to be held against lateralswinging movement and effectively reinforced so as to resist the effortsof stock or the like to open or break the gate. v

In order to explain the operation of the gate, let it be assumed thatthe gate is in a closed position, as shown by Fig. 1. The. operatordesiring to open the gate pulls downwardly upon one of the chains 3 and,thereby manipulates the operating levers 6 to pull upwardly upon themain operating cable V11. This operates through the spring 211 torelease the latch lever 2O` fromengagement with the notched keeper 22and at the' same time produces tension in the branchcable 13, the otherbranch cable 12 being loose. This imparts an initial upward swingingmovement to the gate and the operating lever G is released before thebranch cable 12 becomes taut, the momentum of the gate being thensufficient to swing it upwardly into an open position.' Nhen the gatereaches an open position, the latch 20 engages the notched keeper 22n soas to lock it against accidental closing movement. In order to close thegate, it is merely necessary to again manipulate one of the operatinglevers G so as to pull upwardly uponthe main operating cable 11. Thisoperates as in the previous instance through the spring 2-1- to releasethe latch 20 from the notched keeper 22a and to produce tension in thebranch cable 12, the branch cable 13 remaining loose. The gate is thusswung into ai closed position, the latch 2O engaging the notched keeper22 to lock the gate against accidental opening as soon as it iscompletely closed.

A slight modification is shown by Fig. 7, in which the inner ends of theoperating levers G are pivotally connected to hangers 2G, the lower endsof the hangers being pivotally connected at 27 and having the upper endof the operating cable 11 connected thereto. The spring 29 whichnormally holds the levers 6 yieldably in operative position is alsoconnected to these hangers 26. This construction eliminates thenecessity for providing the levers 6 with the slots 9,

as in the previous instance, and provides an effective manner ofconnect-ing the levers to the operating cable l1 and spring 29.

Having thus described the invention, what l claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

l. A faiin gate including a standard, a gate provided at one end thereofwith a pivot plate, a pivotal connection between the pivot plate and thestandard whereby the gate can swing upwardly in a vertical plane, anoperating lever mounted upon the stand ard, a main cable connected tothe operating lever, a pair of branch cables connecting the main cableto the pivot plate at points sub stantially 90O apart relative to thepivotal connection between the pivot plate and the standard, a latchlever mounted upon the standard, a pair of keepers arranged upon thepivot plate substantially 900 apart with respect to the pivot centerthereof and adapted to alternately engage the nose of the latch lever tolock the gate in open and closed positions, and an operative connectionbetween the latch lever and the main cable for releasing the latchpreparatory to swinging the gate when the operating lever ismanipulated.

2. A farm gate including a standard, a gate provided at one end thereofwith apivot plate, a pivotal connection between the pivot plate and thestandard whereby the gate is adapted to swing in a vertical plane, anoperating lever pivotally mounted between its ends upon the upper end ofthe standard, a handle connected to one end of the operating lever, amain cable connected to the other end of the operating lever, a springnormally holding the operating lever in operative position, a pair ofbranch cables connecting the main cable to the pivot plate at pointssubstantially 90o apart relative to the pivot center thereof,.saidbranch cables be.n ing brought alternately into action to open and closethe gate as the main lever is successively actuated, a latch` levermounted upon the standard, a pair of keepers applied to the pivot plateat points substantially 90o apart relative to the pivot center thereofand adapted to alternately engage the nose of theV latch lever to lockthe gatel in an open or a closed position, and a yielding connectionbetween the latch lever and the main NELSON'J. FINWALL.

lVitnesses RICHARD HENRY FINWALL, AVERY R. JONES.

Genies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents.

Washington, D. C.

